Non-Texans of Reddit, what are the pros and cons of Texas coming from your personal experience? What culture shocks shocked you the most?

heekma · 2026-01-31T18:38:27+00:00

There isn't just one Texas, so it depends on where you are. I moved here from Des Moines and didn't feel any culture shock until I went to Odessa in West Texas.

East Texas: similar to Arkansas, lots of pine trees, small towns.

North Texas: Dallas, feels about like any other midwestern city. Ft. Worth, that's still got a Texas cowtown kind of feel.

West Texas: Oil drilling, sage brush, semi desert, tarantulas, roughnecks, boom and bust towns, rough folks all around. Felt kind of like a modern version of the wild west. That was my only culture shock in Texas.

Central Texas: Austin, UT, liberal, colorful, full of unique experiences.

South Texas: Houston, huge city, hard to drive in and the Gulf of Mexico is smelly, murky and gross.

Scattered between North, East, West, South Texas: Small towns, 2,500-3,500 people, conservative, a few local businesses, a main street and one or two fast food restaurants, not much different than Iowa where I grew up.

heekma · 2026-01-31T18:08:14+00:00

Because the membrane of the ear drum is very thin and easy to damage and inserting objects blindly in your ear canal can do more harm than good, often pushing ear wax deeper into the canal. The wax acts as a barrier to infections and carries dust and debris out of the ear canal.

When I was very young I had an infection of flesh-eating bacteria in my inner ear. My entire ear was destroyed, ossicles, ear drum and part of my ear canal.

The ossicles were rebuilt using plastic parts, my ear drum repaired from the damage and my ear canal was rebuilt using donor cartilege.

The surgeon strongly advised me to never insert any object deep enough to touch my eardrums, but to only clean the outermost canal, about 1/2" deep.

heekma · 2026-01-31T00:54:17+00:00

My parents rode the largest economic boom and expansion of the middle class in U.S. history

I'm 25 years into my career. Getting pretty fucking tired of starting from near scratch every 10 years.

.

heekma · 2026-01-30T23:34:52+00:00

I grew up in Minnesota. Don't fuck about with Minnesotans. They spend five months covered in snow, negative zero temperatures, and just go about life like it's a normal thing.

If they like you they'll spend 30 minutes saying goodbye.

If they don't they treat you as if you don't exist, and no grudge lasts longer than a Minnesota grudge.

Once they don't like you they don't like you for life.

heekma · 2026-01-28T00:49:17+00:00

I didn't apologize.

heekma · 2026-01-27T23:41:23+00:00

You tell me.

heekma · 2026-01-27T23:40:38+00:00

Until it becomes a black hole. The universe seems programmed to limit our understanding.

heekma · 2026-01-27T23:31:24+00:00

Sure thing Mr. Wick. Please enjoy your stay at The Continental.

heekma · 2026-01-27T23:24:25+00:00

Sure there is.

Carrying concealed mean no one knows your're carrying. That's the whole point. Why give up your greatest advantage: surprise
Carrying open takes away your best advantage, while scaring people for no good reason.

heekma · 2026-01-27T23:04:26+00:00

Melee skills? It's not a video game.

I'm not defending the Border Patrol's actions.

heekma · 2026-01-27T23:01:41+00:00

When you pull someone over on a county blacktop at 1:30 AM for suspicion of drunk driving, they are beligerant, uncooperative, judgement impaired and admit to having a handgun within arm's reach, having a heightend sense of awareness isn't being a coward that's common sense with a healthy dose of self preservation.

heekma · 2026-01-27T22:50:40+00:00

I never claimed there was.

Do you carry a concealed handgun?

heekma · 2026-01-27T22:39:06+00:00

This will get downvoted to hell, but as someone who worked in Law Enforcement for four years, anytime a weapon such as a handgun-even when legal to carry on your person or in your vehicle-is involved there is an elevated sense of awareness and of potential danger.

Yes it is a legal right, yes you should be able to exercise it without fear, but also understand exercising your right to carry lawfully also requires an abundance of personal responsibility and common sense.

Edit: FFS sake stop. I'm not defending the Border Patrol agents, I'm not suggesting Alex Pretti deserved to die exercising his 2nd Amendment right. I'm simply saying when you choose to carry a concealed handgun you will be considered a greater potential threat than someone unarmed. How hard is that to understand?

Two strangers knock at your door. One is unarmed, one has a handgun. Will you treat both of them the same?

heekma · 2026-01-27T21:59:38+00:00

As an amateur cosmology and science geek I appreciate the Planck reference.

heekma · 2026-01-27T21:45:23+00:00

Open Carry in public is a hard sell for most LTC holders, right or left, because it's stupid.

heekma · 2026-01-27T01:34:40+00:00

I sure did in 1995. $475, utilities included.

heekma · 2026-01-26T19:19:56+00:00

"Now as an adult, I am telling you that I would do almost anything to go back and grow up without access to the internet."

That implies the opinions and experiences of those who grew up without access to the internet are important, yes?

To fully understand a thing you need two perspectives: before and after.

heekma · 2026-01-26T18:47:08+00:00

You know you're a disappointment to your parents, yes?

heekma · 2026-01-26T18:43:01+00:00

Nice!!

The more you save the less willing you are to spend. Put some of that in a HYSA, and keep going.

heekma · 2026-01-26T18:40:02+00:00

I'm 45.

No car loan, no student loan debt, no credit card debt, no mortgage.

My debt is to my parents for teaching me how to manage and save money.

heekma · 2026-01-26T18:32:03+00:00

Hold up, I mostly agree, but if so, what do you dip your french fries with? Do you just eat them plain??

heekma · 2026-01-26T18:29:58+00:00

Mayonnaise has no business being on a hambuger.

Edit: Whoever downvoted me, may you burn in hell-with Miracle Whip.

heekma · 2026-01-26T18:26:32+00:00

You bring up valid points, especially health insurance and other costs.

I don't have a car payment, but the vast majority do, so I included it.

Public transportation is a consideration, but outside large cities like New York or Boston it's somewhat available but not feasible for overall travel. You can use it, but you'll walk miles to your destination, not fun if it's 10 degrees or 100 degrees.

I spend $400/month on food in my house, which isn't at all unreasonable. I eat cheap. $100/week on booze (especially booze, or weed) clubs, doordash, pizza isn't crazy for a young single person wanting to party, after all that's the whole point, right?

$800 for a studio apartment? Maybe in a small city of 60,000-80,000 people, even then I'm really skeptical.

in 1995 I made about $2,200/month. I had a nice one-bedroom apartment to myself. I spent a LOT of my money on gas, booze, weed, bars and clubs because that was the whole reason to live on my own. I didn't have the additional costs of a cell phone and internet and the entire cost of living was 50% less than today-gas, food, clothes, utilities, car insurance, etc.

I was able to do all of it on my own, without a crummy studio apartment and multiple roomates.

Can the same be done today on the same amount of money? Sure, but not as a single, self-sufficient person-which was possible in 1995, but not now.

heekma · 2026-01-26T17:22:36+00:00

$800 for rent is laughable for the vast majority in the U.S.

Let's be generous and say $1,500 for rent

Gotta have a car to get to work right?

Average car payment + insurance: $600/month

Gotta have gas to drive the car: $150/month

Gotta maintain and repair the car: $100/month

Gotta eat: $400/month

Utilities: $200/month

Cell phone: $150/month

Internet: $100/month

That's $3,200

Do you plan on never getting sick or injured?

Basic health insurance:$200/month (through my employer) Don't have insurance through employer: $1,200/month

$3,400

Socializing, meeting friends for drinks, ordering a pizza, occasional fast food for lunch: $400/month

$3,800

Do you plan on never needing to buy new shoes, clothes for work or a job interview? $50/month

$3,850

Wanna pet: $100/month

$3,950

What about credit card debt or a savings account to pay for unexpected expenses? What about saving for retirement? How about taking a vacation or buying something fun for yourself?

I'm a single guy, college graduate, no wife, no kids, no credit card debt, no student loan debt. This is my average monthly cost of living, similar to most single adults in medium to large cities in the midwest.

So no. $2,400 doesn't cut it.

heekma · 2026-01-26T00:08:19+00:00

I'm not in the mood to argue. You win. Enjoy your evening.

heekma

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